Suitable Test Research Articles

An EIRP Measurement Method of High-Power Microwave Systems Based on Near-Field Testing

The equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of high-power microwave (HPM) systems is a core-evaluating indicator. In practical testing, locating a suitable test site for the far-field method becomes challenging due to the requisite antenna separation. The conventional near-field method necessitates the extraction of the antenna’s near-field distribution, resulting in a testing system of intricate complexity and diminished efficiency. Therefore, the traditional near-field method cannot be directly applied in HPM systems. In the present study, a new EIRP measurement method for HPM systems based on near-field testing was proposed. First, a monitoring antenna of a considerable scale is positioned within the near-field vicinity of the HPM antenna to capture radiation power, thereby deriving its equivalent input power. Subsequently, according to the EIRP definition and the measured gain of the HPM antenna, the EIRP of the HPM system can be acquired. Theoretical research on this measurement method was conducted, the electromagnetic simulation model was constructed, and a comprehensive analysis through simulation was undertaken. A measurement system was developed and verified experimentally. The results demonstrate the precision of this approach in determining the EIRP of the HPM system, thereby serving as a valuable tool for assessing the power-handling capability of the HPM antenna. The test error is ±0.5 dB.

Chemical and Visual Cues as Modulators of the Stress Response to Social Isolation in the Marine Medaka, Oryzias melastigma.

The marine medaka is emerging as a potential behavioral model organism for ocean studies, namely on marine ecotoxicology. However, not much is known on the behavior of the species and behavioral assays lack standardization. This study assesses the marine medaka as a potential model for chemical communication. We investigated how short exposure to visual and chemical cues mediated the stress response to social isolation with the light/dark preference test (LDPT) and the open field test (OFT). After a 5-day isolation period, and 1 h before testing, isolated fish were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) placed in visual contact with conspecifics; (2) exposed to a flow of holding water from a group of conspecifics; (3) exposed to both visual and chemical cues from conspecifics; or (4) not exposed to any stimuli (controls). During the LDPT, the distance traveled and transitions between zones were more pronounced in animals exposed to the conspecific's chemical stimuli. The time spent in each area did not differ between the groups, but a clear preference for the bright area in all animals indicates robust phototaxis. During the OFT, animals exposed only to chemical cues initially traveled more than those exposed to visual or both stimuli, and displayed lower thigmotaxis. Taken together, results show that chemical cues play a significant role in exploratory behavior in this species and confirm the LDPT and OFT as suitable tests for investigating chemical communication in this species.

Acute toxicity tests of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber using Daphnia magna and Oryzias latipes

Ecotoxicity data on cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are limited despite their wide application prospects. Herein, acute toxicity tests of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO)-oxidized CNFs to Daphnia magna and Oryzias latipes were conducted according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development test guidelines, which consider CNF dispersibility during the test. To select a suitable test medium, the interaction between the medium components and CNFs was first evaluated using five test media with different ion concentrations. The viscosity, zeta potential, and concentration uniformity of TEMPO-CNFs changed with increasing ionic concentration. The toxicity test results showed no acute toxicity of TEMPO-CNFs to the two species, even at the highest exposure concentrations in this study. Both the median effective concentration (EC50) and median lethal concentration (LC50) were >100 mg/L. In most cases, the measured CNF concentrations were within 20% of the nominal concentrations and remained largely constant. However, in the D. magna acute toxicity test, the concentration uniformity of TEMPO-CNFs tended to decrease when the CNF concentration was low. Our results demonstrate the importance of measuring CNF concentrations during testing and revealed that the ion concentrations in the test solution changed because of the interaction between the medium components and TEMPO-CNFs. This finding demonstrates the importance of examining the components of the medium to avoid mistaking the effects of depleted medium components for the direct effects of TEMPO-CNFs on aquatic organisms.

The Impact of Hearing Aids on Listening Effort and Listening-Related Fatigue - Investigations in a Virtual Realistic Listening Environment.

Participation in complex listening situations such as group conversations in noisy environments sets high demands on the auditory system and on cognitive processing. Reports of hearing-impaired people indicate that strenuous listening situations occurring throughout the day lead to feelings of fatigue at the end of the day. The aim of the present study was to develop a suitable test sequence to evoke and measure listening effort (LE) and listening-related fatigue (LRF), and, to evaluate the influence of hearing aid use on both dimensions in mild to moderately hearing-impaired participants. The chosen approach aims to reconstruct a representative acoustic day (Time Compressed Acoustic Day [TCAD]) by means of an eight-part hearing-test sequence with a total duration of approximately 2½ h. For this purpose, the hearing test sequence combined four different listening tasks with five different acoustic scenarios and was presented to the 20 test subjects using virtual acoustics in an open field measurement in aided and unaided conditions. Besides subjective ratings of LE and LRF, behavioral measures (response accuracy, reaction times), and an attention test (d2-R) were performed prior to and after the TCAD. Furthermore, stress hormones were evaluated by taking salivary samples. Subjective ratings of LRF increased throughout the test sequence. This effect was observed to be higher when testing unaided. In three of the eight listening tests, the aided condition led to significantly faster reaction times/response accuracies than in the unaided condition. In the d2-R test, an interaction in processing speed between time (pre- vs. post-TCAD) and provision (unaided vs. aided) was found suggesting an influence of hearing aid provision on LRF. A comparison of the averaged subjective ratings at the beginning and end of the TCAD shows a significant increase in LRF for both conditions. At the end of the TCAD, subjective fatigue was significantly lower when wearing hearing aids. The analysis of stress hormones did not reveal significant effects.

Antioxidant Genes Variants and Their Association with Sperm DNA Fragmentation.

Semen possesses a variety of antioxidant defense mechanisms which protect sperm DNA from the damaging effects of oxidative stress. Correlation between antioxidant genes variants and sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) level is not sufficiently studied. Therefore, we investigated the association between several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): CYP1A1 (rs1048943A > G), CYP4F2 (rs2108622G > A), NRF2 (rs6721961C > A), PON1 (rs662A > G), NOS3 (rs1799983G > T), GSTM1 (null), CAT (rs1001179C > T), SOD2 (rs4880A > G), GSTP1 (rs1695A > G), PON2 (rs7493G > C), EPHX2 (rs1042064T > C), and AHR (rs2066853G > A) and elevated SDF. The study employed a case-control design where, the allele and genotype frequencies of the selected SNPs were compared between 75 semen samples with abnormal SDF (the cases) and 75 samples with normal SDF (the controls). DNA was extracted from the semen samples and allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR) was used for genotyping the SNPs. Relevant data were collected from the patients' records et al.-Basma Fertility Center. Suitable statistical tests and multifactorial dimensionality reduction (MDR) test were used to anticipate SNP-SNP interactions. Comparison of semen parameters revealed significant differences between cases and controls in terms of liquefaction time, sperm total motility, and normal form. Genotype frequencies of NOS3 G > T (GT), SOD2 A > G (AA and AG), EPHX2 T > C (CC and CT), and AHR G > A (GA and GG) were significantly different between cases and controls. Allele frequencies of SOD2 (G-allele), and EPHX2 (T-allele) also significantly varied between cases and controls. MDR analysis revealed that the NOS3, SOD2, and EPHX2 SNPs combination has the highest impact on SDF. The study findings suggest that genetic variations in genes involved antioxidant defenses contribute to abnormal SDF.

Construction of A Physical Fitness Test Battery for Middle-Aged Women

Proper measuring tools can provide the exact information about an individual’s fitness level. The purpose of the study was to construct a suitable physical fitness test battery and to develop norms for middle-aged women in the Indian population. A total number of 405 middle-aged Indian women of 40-59 years were selected from three basic occupations of homemaking, office job, and manual labor. They were divided into two groups 40-49 years (n=230) and 50-59 years (n=175). The selected physical fitness variables for the construction of the physical fitness test battery were strength, strength endurance, agility, flexibility, balance, coordination, gait velocity, and cardiovascular endurance, which were measured by the standard and valid tests such as hand grip dynamometer, wall squat test, figure of eight-run test, sit and reach test, one leg stand test, plate tape test, and 6 min walk test respectively. Descriptive statistics, normality of the data, Pearson product-moment correlation, and Percentile score were calculated by SPSS version 21. Cajori’s 5-grade evaluation norms were applied. The External validity of the newly constructed test battery was examined by using Eviews software version 9. Results revealed that the obtained data was normal and the selected variables were highly correlated. The Percentile scale revealed that the score from P0 -P100 for each variable for both the groups and grading was expressed in five grades such as excellent, good, average, below average, and poor. External validity confirmed the validity of the physical fitness test battery for middle-aged women across the world.

Peningkatan Efektivitas Produksi Dan Perluasan Pasar Terasi Udang Di KB Khinasih Dengan Alat Pengering Terasi Dan Rebranding Produk

This community service (PkM) was conducted near the coast of Manggar Beach, Balikpapan City, in collaboration with partners from the PKK Khinasih Quality Family Village (KB Khinasih) group, which has micro-industry potential for processed shrimp paste. The challenges faced include: 1) the drying method for shrimp paste is conducted by sun-drying, which means that during the rainy season, the drying process for shrimp paste takes a long time and hampers the production process; and 2) sales of processed shrimp paste products are currently limited to the local community. To address these issues related to the extended drying process and to expand marketing efforts, this PkM initiative developed a shrimp paste drying tool tailored to the needs of the PKK KB Khinasih women. Additionally, outreach activities were conducted to educate them about design and packaging strategies that could be beneficial for hosting product exhibitions. The dryer has been handed over to the PKK women for suitability testing with regard to its function, quality, and capacity. KB Khinasih has also adopted label and sticker designs for packaging processed rebon shrimp paste products. Keywords: dryer; product sticker and label; rebon shrimp paste

Study on the fit testing for the workers wearing hearing protection device in machinery manufacturing enterprises

Objective: To investigate the occupational noise hazards in five machinery manufacturing enterprises, and to evaluate the individual noise reduction values and influencing factors of workers wearing hearing protection device (HPD) by individual fit testing. Methods: From November 2021 to January 2022, 5 machinery manufacturing enterprises in Bao'an District of Shenzhen were selected to conduct an occupational health survey to understand the noise exposure level of workers. The 3MTM E-A-RfitTM fitness test system was used to test the baseline individual sound attenuation value level (PAR) of the daily wear of the ear protecters for 485 workers in typical noise working positions. Workers whose PAR values could not meet the requirements of noise reduction at work were instructed to wear and repeated tests were conducted. PAR results of the workers before and after the intervention were collected and analyzed. Results: The noise workers who received the suitability test were mainly distributed in 24 types of work, the job noise exposure level was 80.2 dB (A) ~ 95.0 dB (A), and the job noise excess rate was 52.5% (138/263). The median baseline PAR [M (Q(1), Q(3)) ] for 485 workers was 6.0 (0.0, 14.0) dB. The baseline PAR of male workers, those with more than 15 years of working experience, those with more than 15 years of using ear guards, those who considered ear guards comfortable to wear, those with college degree or above, and those exposed to noise level 90 dB (A) were higher, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). A total of 275 workers (56.7%) did not pass the baseline PAR test, and there was no statistically significant difference in the intervention rate of workers in different noise groups (P>0.05). PAR in subjects who did not pass baseline after intervention increased from 0.0 (0.0, 3.0) dB to 15.0 (12.0, 18.2) dB. Conclusion: The workplace noise hazard of machinery manufacturing enterprises is serious, and there is a great difference between the baseline PAR and the nominal value of the hearing guard worn by the noise exposed workers. The intervention measures can effectively improve the protective effect of wearing ear protectors.

3-Year test-retest reliability in Parkinson’s disease and healthy older adults: The Parkinson’s progression markers initiative study

Repeated neuropsychological assessments are often conducted in clinical and research settings to track cognitive changes over single or multiple intervals in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Yet few studies have documented test-retest reliability in PD. To address this gap, we used data from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) to investigate the reliability of five well-known neuropsychological tests over a 3-year follow-up assessment in early-stage PD with either normal (PD-NC; N = 158) or abnormal (PD-AC; N = 39) cognitive screening, categorized based on recommended cutoffs for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and healthy older adults (HOA; N = 102). All participants analyzed maintained the same cognitive status category across the assessment points. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) estimated reliability. The overall ICCs calculated across time points were as follows: Judgment of Line Orientation (PD-NC = .47, PD-AC = .50, HOA = .59); Letter-Number Sequencing (PD-NC = .64, PD-AC = .64, HOA = .65); Semantic Fluency (PD-NC = .69, PD-AC = .89, HOA = .77); Symbol Digit Modalities Test (PD-NC = .67, PD-AC = .83, HOA = .71). For the two primary components of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised, we found the following ICCs: immediate recall (PD-NC = .46, PD-AC = .57, HOA = .58); delayed recall (PD-NC = .42, PD-AC = .57, HOA = .54). Findings from this study provide useful information for clinicians and researchers toward selecting suitable neuropsychological tests to monitor cognition at two or more time points among newly diagnosed individuals with PD and HOA.

Research on environmental reliability test and assessment of AI devices under vibration stress1

The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) devices has generated an increasing demand for reliability in their utilization. Nevertheless, the significant concern persists regarding the absence of suitable assessment and testing techniques to evaluate the performance of these intelligent systems in real-world conditions. In response to these issues, this paper conducts research on the reliability testing and assessment of AI visual perception systems under vibration stress. The paper introduces the working mechanism of the visual perception system and the various testing methods for AI devices. Based on this, a reliability assessment method for intelligent devices is proposed, which uses the Fréchet distance as the measurement function and environmental adaptability as the reliability metric. Additionally, a vibration test platform for the visual perception system is established, which offers a cost-effective and reliable solution to the high cost issue of field testing for AI devices. Finally, the reliability level of the visual perception system under various vibration conditions is tested through vibration testing. The research findings indicate that the reliability of AI models decreases as the degradation caused by vibration increases, following a normal distribution.

Ongoing Analytical Procedure Performance Verification Using a Risk-Based Approach to Determine Performance Monitoring Requirements.

The analytical procedure life cycle (APLC) provides a holistic framework to ensure analytical procedure fitness for purpose. USP's general chapter <1220> considers the validation activities that take place across the entire analytical procedure lifecycle and provides a three-stage framework for its implementation. Performing ongoing analytical procedure performance verification (OPPV) (stage 3) ensures that the procedure remains in a state of control across its lifecycle of use post validation (qualification) and involves an ongoing program to collect and analyze data that relate to the performance of the procedure. Knowledge generated during stages 1 (procedure design) and 2 (procedure performance qualification) is used as the basis for the design of the routine monitoring plan to support performance verification (stage 3). The extent of the routine monitoring required should be defined based on risk assessment, considering the complexity of the procedure, its intended purpose, and knowledge about process/procedure variability. The analytical target profile (ATP) can be used to provide or guide the establishment of acceptance criteria used to verify the procedure performance during routine use (e.g., through a system/sample suitability test (SST) or verification criteria applicable to procedure changes or transfers). An ATP however is not essentially required to perform OPPV, and a procedure performance monitoring program can be implemented even if the full APLC framework has not been applied. In these situations, verification criteria can be derived from existing validation or system suitability criteria. Elements of the life cycle approach can also be applied retrospectively if deemed useful.

BNC210, a negative allosteric modulator of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, demonstrates anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects in rodents

This work describes the characterization of BNC210 (6-[(2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-2-yl)amino]-1-ethyl-3-(4-morpholinylcarbonyl)-1,8-naphthyridin-4(1H)-one), a selective, small molecule, negative allosteric modulator (NAM) of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7 nAChR). With the aim to discover a non-sedating, anxiolytic compound, BNC210 was identified during phenotypic screening of a focused medicinal chemistry library using the mouse Light Dark (LD) box to evaluate anxiolytic-like activity and the mouse Open Field (OF) (dark) test to detect sedative and/or motor effects. BNC210 exhibited anxiolytic-like activity with no measurable sedative or motor effects. Electrophysiology showed that BNC210 did not induce α7 nAChR currents by itself but inhibited EC80 agonist-evoked currents in recombinant GH4C1 cell lines stably expressing the rat or human α7 nAChR. BNC210 was not active when tested on cell lines expressing other members of the cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel family. Screening over 400 other targets did not reveal any activity for BNC210 confirming its selectivity for α7 nAChR. Oral administration of BNC210 to male mice and rats in several tests of behavior related to anxiety- and stress- related disorders, demonstrated significant reduction of these behaviors over a broad therapeutic range up to 500 times the minimum effective dose. Further testing for potential adverse effects in suitable rat and mouse tests showed that BNC210 did not produce sedation, memory and motor impairment or physical dependence, symptoms associated with current anxiolytic therapeutics. These data suggest that allosteric inhibition of α7 nAChR function may represent a differentiated approach to treating anxiety- and stress- related disorders with an improved safety profile compared to current treatments.

The Influence of Microstructure Characteristics on Thickness Measurement of TBCs Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) exhibit excellent thermal insulation capabilities, proving crucial in enhancing the performance of turbine blades. Accurate measurement of TBC thickness is pivotal for the quality control and health monitoring of turbine blades. However, the absence of suitable non-destructive testing (NDT) methods poses a challenge in ensuring precise quality control and health assessment of TBCs. This study investigates the efficacy of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in measuring TBCs thickness, specifically focusing on the microstructure characteristics of the top coat (TC), including grain morphology, internal porosity, surface roughness, and agglomerates. The findings emphasize the significance of grain morphology in determining thickness measurement due to the varied terahertz wave propagation modes. Moreover, the study involved polishing EB-PVD and APS samples to mitigate surface roughness. This process revealed a discernible linear correlation between reduced surface roughness and decreased measurement errors. The slopes of the error reduction curves ranged from 0.59 to 1.7 for EB-PVD and 2.17 to 5.79 for APS samples. Furthermore, the research observed THz light scattering within internal pores, resulting in diminished outgoing energies and subsequent increments in measurement errors.

Policy for handling air pollution in Jakarta: Study using System Dynamics Simulation Models

Air pollution in Jakarta has become a severe concern in the last four months. IQAir, in August 2023, revealed that the level of air pollution had reached 161 points on the Air Pollution Standard Index (APSI). The negative impact on society has placed air pollution as a concern for environmental safety and survival in danger. This condition will encourage the development of a national policy agenda to integrate environmental welfare through various energy efficiency channels. This research analyzes the relationship between air pollutant elements that can reduce air quality. The analysis includes pollutant intensity measured by APSI per unit of pollutant as a measure of efficiency. The aim is to observe energy use, which causes an increase in pollutant levels. This research utilizes dynamic system modeling to produce relationships between parameters to produce factors that cause pollution. The parameters used are motorized vehicles, waste burning in landfills, industry, and power plants. The results of historical behavioral tests and statistical suitability tests show that the behavior is suitable for the short and long term. The simulation results show that the pollution level will worsen by the end of 2027, a hazardous condition for society. The optimistic scenario simulation model proposes immediate counter-measures to reduce pollution to 45.01, the ideal condition. To accelerate improvements in air quality, the Government can plan policies to reduce the use of coal by power plants and industry, as well as the use of electric motorized vehicles, resulting in an ideal reduction in pollution by 2024. In conclusion, pollution can be reduced effectively if the Government firmly implements policies to maintain that air quality remains stable below 50 points.

Development of a Digital Olfactory Function Test: A Preliminary Study.

Olfactory dysfunction is associated with conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, mental illnesses, and upper-airway-related diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the development of an examiner-independent olfactory function test. We recently developed a digital olfactory function test called Digitalscent (DIGITAL SCENT), which is a kiosk-type device with an integrated hardware system. The protocol follows conventional psychophysical olfactory function protocols, including threshold, discrimination, and identification test subsets. Eight healthy participants without olfactory dysfunction volunteered for the suitability test and completed both the YSK olfactory function and Digitalscent tests. Pearson correlations were determined between the YSK olfactory function and Digitalscent tests. Digitalscent could be implemented as a conventional olfactory function test, and all participants followed the Digitalscent test protocols. Limitations in the threshold and identification test subsets included unfamiliarity of the patients to the digital test and incompleteness in the sophisticated release of odorants. A strength of the identification test subset was the dual sensory stimulation of vision and olfaction. Digitalscent could-without facilitating viral transmission-enable early diagnosis of olfactory dysfunction during respiratory viral pandemics. Future studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to facilitate wider use of this digital olfactory function test.

ОЦЕНКА ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ ТЕСТОВ ГЕТЕРОСКЕДАСТИЧНОСТИ

The article studies the effectiveness of various statistical tests for heteroscedasticity in a model. A research design and a principle for building synthetic data with various types of heteroscedasticity are described. The fi ndings of an analysis are given. The most effective tests for detecting homo- and heteroscedasticity are determined. A classifi cation trees mechanism is applied to identify the most effective tests according to the sampling properties, and such pattern is demonstrated. In applied studies, there is a need to carry out further research aimed at detecting the most suitable statistical test based on the given data properties. In addition, it is concluded that each considered test fails for different types of heteroscedasticity. Thus, it is necessary to conduct further theoretical studies in the fi eld as well as design new approaches for detecting various types of heteroscedasticity.

Analytical Validation Study with Uncertainty Evaluation of the Method for Quantitative Determination of Hesperidin in the Extracted Product and Mandarin Processing Waste

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an alternative, selective, reproducible, and high-yield extraction-based method by ultrasound-assisted technique combined with an effective, specific, sensitive, and rapid analytical HPLC procedure for obtaining hesperidin from mandarin (Citrus unshiu) peel as waste material in citrus processing industries and its quantitative determination in the obtained extracted product and citrus waste materials as well. The evaluation of the uncertainty of the developed method is also described in the present work. The proposed method is focused not only on obtaining hesperidin but also provides the possibility for obtaining other valuable bioactive compounds within the single stepwise extraction process. The proposed method was validated concerning the following validation parameters: robustness, system suitability test, specificity, linearity range, precision, accuracy, sensitivity, limits of quantification (LOQ), and detection (LOD). A design of experiments using the Placket-Burman approach was used for the robustness study of the combined method. The measurement uncertainty of the proposed method was evaluated based on the four-step process using a combination of two appropriate - bottom-up and top-down approaches using the method validation data. The LOD and LOQ of the analytical procedure were 0.00001 mg/mL and 0.000025 mg/mL, respectively. The calibration curve (0.000025-0.5 mg/mL) is linear and the square of the correlation coefficient is equal to 0.99992. The determined average amount of hesperidin in the dry citrus peel samples is equal to 35.36 ± 3.14 mg/g (k=2, 95 % level of confidence). The mean recovery of the combined method is 91.48 %. The purity of the dry-extracted product of hesperidin is not less than 90 %.

Composable and executable scenarios for simulation-based testing of mobile robots.

Few mobile robot developers already test their software on simulated robots in virtual environments or sceneries. However, the majority still shy away from simulation-based test campaigns because it remains challenging to specify and execute suitable testing scenarios, that is, models of the environment and the robots' tasks. Through developer interviews, we identified that managing the enormous variability of testing scenarios is a major barrier to the application of simulation-based testing in robotics. Furthermore, traditional CAD or 3D-modelling tools such as SolidWorks, 3ds Max, or Blender are not suitable for specifying sceneries that vary significantly and serve different testing objectives. For some testing campaigns, it is required that the scenery replicates the dynamic (e.g., opening doors) and static features of real-world environments, whereas for others, simplified scenery is sufficient. Similarly, the task and mission specifications used for simulation-based testing range from simple point-to-point navigation tasks to more elaborate tasks that require advanced deliberation and decision-making. We propose the concept of composable and executable scenarios and associated tooling to support developers in specifying, reusing, and executing scenarios for the simulation-based testing of robotic systems. Our approach differs from traditional approaches in that it offers a means of creating scenarios that allow the addition of new semantics (e.g., dynamic elements such as doors or varying task specifications) to existing models without altering them. Thus, we can systematically construct richer scenarios that remain manageable. We evaluated our approach in a small simulation-based testing campaign, with scenarios defined around the navigation stack of a mobile robot. The scenarios gradually increased in complexity, composing new features into the scenery of previous scenarios. Our evaluation demonstrated how our approach can facilitate the reuse of models and revealed the presence of errors in the configuration of the publicly available navigation stack of our SUT, which had gone unnoticed despite its frequent use.

Exploring Perceptions and Health Awareness in Fish Consumption Across Coastal and Inland Kerala

The study investigated fish consumption patterns and consumer perceptions in Kerala, focusing on coastal and inland districts during 2020. Using a sample of 396 households from four districts and employing suitable tests, the study reveals significant disparities in monthly and per capita fish consumption, with coastal areas displaying higher rates. The majority of consumers hold a moderate perception of nutritional and health benefits, indicating a need for targeted health awareness programs. Coastal and inland consumers differ significantly in their perceptions, with coastal residents demonstrating greater awareness of dietary advantages, while inland consumers express resignation to lower quality due to supply chain limitations. Urban consumers exhibit an optimistic health perception, contrasting with rural concerns about certification systems and government inefficiencies in ensuring safe fish. The study emphasizes the necessity for customized information dissemination and awareness programs to address the diverse concerns of fish consumers in Kerala.

Assessing the Reasons for Motivation of Patients Seeking Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Procedures in Saudi Arabia

Background: Humans have always sought self-fulfillment by improving their appearance. Cosmetic operations increased in number to fill this need. The study aimed to assess the reasons for the motivation of patients seeking minimal invasive cosmetic procedures. Methods and material: A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to May in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was adapted from another study. The data was cleaned, coded, and entered using SPSS. Proportions were calculated and bivariate. Data were tested by the suitable test of significance. Results: Out of 1026 participants, 87% were females and 13% were males. 56.8% of participants were 18-24 years old. Almost half of the participants had a major change in professional or personal life in the last year, but this was not significant with having the motivation to seek minimally invasive cosmetic procedures (P= 0.767). Out of the responders,41.7% and 21.9% think that cosmetic treatment will moderately or significantly affect their appearance. The most received cosmetic treatments were dermal filler replacement and Botox, 30.2% and 20.6% respectively. The mostly aged facial features were eyes related or around the eyes in 64.1% and neck related in 13.7%. History of prior facial cosmetic procedures was found in 11.4%. The most expected complications of Botox were bruises in 65.3%. The most expected complication of dermal filler was swelling at 69.9%. Conclusion: Our study found that middle-aged women were the most to undergo a cosmetic procedure. Most of the responders that were treated had learned about the treatments online. Social media was most frequently used by our patients.